US – China Trade War: President Trump Urges China To Make Trade Deal Before 2020 Elections – By Wesley Dockery (IB Times) / July 30 2019
President Donald Trump has demanded that China reach a trade deal with the United States before the 2020 presidential elections. Trump on Tuesday touched on how the Chinese government might be waiting for new leadership ahead of negotiations.
“The problem is that if & when I win, the deal they will get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now… or no deal at all,” Trump posted on Twitter.
Trump officials, which includes Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, are currently meeting their counterparts in Shanghai to discuss trade between the two countries.
The two sides have had a turbulent economic relationship, with Trump in May increasing tariffs to 25% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. In retaliation, China enacted its own tariffs on the U.S., which disrupted the agriculture sector.
At the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Trump agreed to a truce with Chinese President Xi Jinping that involved not implementing any further tariffs.
Trump believes China has been “taking advantage” of the U.S. when it comes to not just trade but also intellectual property claims, currency manipulation practices and flooding the market with cheap exports, which he believes hurts U.S. manufacturing.
If a Democrat wins in November 2020, the U.S. could move away from tariffs, as the candidates have been critical of Trump’s trade policies.
Democratic presidential candidate and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren believes the tariffs shock a vulnerable American economy, while frontrunner and former vice president Joe Biden has said that the tariffs only hurt American consumers and farmers.
